10 Top Food Fashions of 2011

It's the last day of the year and you've probably read top ten lists of everything from movies to break-ups to Tweets. Well, before the ball drops, I couldn't resist posting my own list of the ten top ways we've cooked and eaten in the last year. Come back next week for my predictions for 2012.

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1. Slow Cooking No longer retro, this is a very modern way of cooking. You love reading about our picks for the best ones, recipes, and tips. Though moderately priced models are still available, you can buy gleaming stainless steel trophy models for as much as $275 and cookbooks from esteemed cookbook authors like Michele Scicolone. Spoiler Alert: This one will be on the list for next year too.

2. Kids are in the Kitchen in a big way. And they're no longer simply mixing up brownies or chocolate chip cookies. They're donning aprons and chef's hats and wielding rolling pins and knives.

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3. Single Serve Coffeemakers Sensing that these one-cup-at-a-time brewers are so easy to use that they may be making it unnecessary to visit their stores many times a day, Starbucks has come out with capsules for the Keurig, including ones made from single-origin coffees.

4. Tapas used to be exotic...something you ate when you traveled abroad or in a Spanish restaurant...now they're everywhere...there's even a Tapas section on the menu from my neighborhood Chinese take-out joint! They constitute a whole meal at a restaurant or at home. I can't tell you how many times this food lover who used to hate to share, now clamors to order lots of apps for the table in place of stuffy mains.

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5. Pizza, pizza, pizza...can't get enough of it! My post from the summer of 2010 on the Emile Henry pizza stone is still one of your faves and the company will be releasing a mini-version that can fit in your toaster oven.

6. Local Foods. You may not be able to afford to buy all your food at the farmer's market or the organic grocery store, but you've probably noticed that even the supermarket is selling foods grown within 100 miles of your home town and that your local bistro is naming the farmer that grew the butternut squash that was pureed for your soup.

7. [link title="Almost Vegetarian" href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/search/?q=vegetarian" link_updater_label="external_hearst" target="_blank"]Vegetarian isn't just for health nuts and hippies anymore. It's a smart way to eat, at a least some of the time.

8. Rock-Star Butchers It used to be the butcher wanted his son to be a lawyer. Now, the kids of lawyers and docs are taking up meat cutting.

9. Apps If you have a smartphone or a tablet, chances are you've downloaded at least one food app. One of the best: Baking with Dorie from Culinapp for the iPhone. You'll be hearing lots more about this trend in the year to come.

# 10--Drumroll, please. Home Cooking The results of our How America Eat Survey told us that more than 80% of you eat with your families 3 or more times a week and almost 60% of you eat together at least 5 times a week. Now that's good news!